Although Tuesday’s Washington Post is finally doing what the blogs have already done some time ago, decimating the ludicrous defense of Dan Rather and his cohorts at CBS, they are more than a day late and ultimately billions of dollars short. The game is already over, ladies and gentlemen. We are in a new era.
The mainstream media, if the truth be told, to one degree or another, are all CBS. Most of them have relied for years, again to one degree or another, on their position and reputation rather than on genuine fact checking in promulgating their versions of the news. Those days are now over… way over, because, for technological and manpower reasons, as has been demonstrated by the Rather affair, the blogs are better qualified to fact check than the mainstream media ever were. I was going to write “may be better qualified to fact check,” but why bother? In this case, the facts are simple. We are open to all. We have more potential resources with more varied backgrounds. And we revise ourselves constantly in response to criticism (at least we should). These are all things that the mainstream media do not do. Many people, for good reason, already trust us more than the mainstream media. They shouldn’t. Don’t trust anybody. Verify. Then decide if we’re telling truth. I’m sure you already do, if you read blogs. And, if we’re not telling the truth or interpreting correctly, with the blogs you can get involved and protest. You can start your own blog and tell the truth - for virtually no money. We are all part of the process. If you want positive anarchy, don’t look to the protesters in Davos. Look to the blogosphere.
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66 Comments
1. Charlie (Colorado):Oh, hell. You beat me that time… I was all set to post this link.
Still, it’s interesting … Rather is left with a typewriter repairman and a “software developer” no one has ever heard of. His last reference with any professional standing has turned.
Sep 13, 2004 - 9:42 pm 2. Barry Dauphin:This just in: Dan Rather has new source claiming documents are genuine-Mavis Beacon! http://www.broderbund.com/Product.asp?OID=4151493&SC=1105647&CID=249
Sep 13, 2004 - 9:51 pm 3. David [.net]:Plenty of Deep Throat potential according to Kerry Spot:
THE LATEST FROM WITHIN CBS [09/14 12:44 AM]
http://www.nationalreview.com/kerry/kerryspot.asp
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:06 pm 4. J_Crater:When you wakeup and find the WaPo in bed next to you, you know there is a real spurned Dan Rather out there.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:19 pm 5. Morgan:I wonder how many of the MSM reports that come out over the next week accepting the fraudulence of the documents will give due credit to the bloggers who uncovered and definitively proved it - as having done so, not just as having “raised questions” about the legitimacy of the documents. I’m guessing there will be a tendency for the MSM to act as though the opinions of the experts they will contact are the real debunking of the memos, as opposed to (for example) the LGF demonstration of impossibly good correspondence between MS Word and the supposedly typewritten memos.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:20 pm 6. George Purcell:The thought that has been running through my mind:
Four years ago, two years ago, Dan Rather gets away with this.
How many hit jobs succeeded that we don’t know about? How many stories were suppressed?
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:33 pm 7. Godzilla:OT But important. Declassified After Action report concerning Kerry’s Silver Star Citation uncovered and now on the Web. When you read it, scan for PC 94, and shortly thereafter “OINC blah blah blah”. The OINC of PC94 was Kerry, though he’s not mention by name. Reports that he killed a fleeing VC, as stipultated by Swift Vets. The part you want to look for is on the second page of the Report
More can be had here
The After Action Report looks like the real deal and not a forgery. Heh.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:42 pm 8. Rick Ballard:George,
No telling but it’s more than one. I wonder if Ratherite will become the equivalent of McCarthyite?
“I have here in my hand definitive proof of the existence of…”
When do we start the Army hearings and who gets to finally ask,
“At long last, sir, have you no shame?”
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:43 pm 9. David [.net]:Four years ago, two years ago,…
…five years ago, ten years ago, thirty years ago…
This is a very important event.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:44 pm 10. penwil:George,
Funny you should say that because just today I had an “oh, man” moment when reading that this Marcel Matley handwriting expert that CBS has been using (or was up until he turned on them in the Post article), was the one who verified that the Vince Foster suicide note was legit.
Now up until this moment, I’d always consigned those wild rumors about Foster being murdered to the right wing tin foil hat brigade, but when I saw this my first thought was to wonder, “oh, man, could they have actually been right?”
I still don’t think Foster was murdered, but that I even stopped to wonder for a moment shows just how thoroughly my trust in the MSM has been shattered. And certainly I’m going to very, very leary about any anti-Bush story they come out with from now on. And that’s not good, for we need our press to be a watchdog over government activities, but when we can’t trust a world they print or say, what’s the point of their existence?
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:45 pm 11. Godzilla:In the report I linked to above, notice that the VC had been wounded in the leg by the forward M-60 gunner before Kerry started chasing him. I believe the gunner was Gardner.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:45 pm 12. Rick Ballard:Godzilla,
Nope - Gardner was on the .50’s, I think Madeiros may have been the M-60 gunner.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:47 pm 13. idi_amin:anyone else find it ironic that Dan’s latest “expert” (the ex-typewriter repairman) was found by CBS producers thru a comment he made in a blog, where he was defending the 60 Minutes memos.
Is it just me or does that seem like a bizarre method of getting an objective professional’s expert opinion? CBS Producer to Intern: “Um, can you search around these blogs and message boards and try to find someone…anyone who will back us up here?”
Also funny is how the WaPo story says the guy denies being a document expert, but CBS continues to refer to him as “document expert Bill Glennon”.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:47 pm 14. Rick Ballard:And Gardner had already rotated when this happened.
My God, how much of this crap is imprinted on my brain?
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:49 pm 15. Godzilla:Rick
It was actually Tom Belodeau manning the M-60. Had to look it up in my “Unfit For Command” a good rundown of what happened starts on page 82.
Sep 13, 2004 - 10:58 pm 16. Rick Ballard:Godzilla,
Thanks, I’m glad my memory is failing me. I knew it wasn’t Gardner ’cause the moonbats squeal about him not actually being with Kerry during any of the medal hunts.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:02 pm 17. WichitaBoy:penwil
we need our press to be a watchdog over government activities
Nope. Sorry, but that’s the old thinking. What we need is our citizenry to be a watchdog over government activities, and that’s exactly what the internet is suddenly allowing.
I don’t have any opinion whatsoever on the Vince Foster case. I haven’t read about it and know absolutely nothing of the facts.
That said, I am completely convinced that the Clintons are ruthless enough to have done it and that the MSM was happy enough to lie about it to cover it up, if it happened.
When people keep asking how it could possibly be that CBS is stonewalling, what do they know that we don’t, the answer seems glaringly obvious to me: they’ve been getting away with lying for years. We just never knew before. Why should this year be any different? I don’t know, but it was. It’s rather obvious now that Dan Rather’s a scumbag, more’s the pity.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:05 pm 18. Rick Ballard:WichitaBoy,
What’s your bet on when the WSJ “Disgrace to Journalism” op-ed shows up? I think NLT than the Thursday edition in order to capture the Sunday shows. I’m also betting that it is going to be blistering.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:12 pm 19. dougf:‘We need our press to be a watchdog over government activities, but when we can’t trust a world they print or say, what’s the point of their existence’–penwil
EXACTLY !!!!!
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:19 pm 20. Godzilla:OT The article about Kerry and the After Action Report I linked to is on Drudge now, and I’m positive I didn’t get it there, but through other links I don’t even remember now, though NRO was part of it. The information is moving with quantum speed.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:21 pm 21. Easter Lemming:Document on Drudge Report Reveals Bush Did Not Meet Obligations
A document that Matt Drudge has linked to to defend Bush against charges he lied about being in the Air Force may have backfired - showing instead Bush did not meet his military obligations in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
Bush had previously claimed he was in the Air Force as well as in the Air Force Reserve. The document that Drudge provides shows that while undergoing training he was technically on active duty. Drudge clearly doesn’t know that active duty is NOT the same as being in the Air Force.
Worse than that further down in the document it lists Bush’s required service requirements while in the Reserve.
h: Satisfactory participation during my menership in the Air National Guard will be attendence and satisfactory performance of assigned duties at 48 scheduled inactive duty training periods and 15 days field training (active duty for training) annually, unlessed excused therefrom by proper authority.
After April of 72 Bush never meet his annual training requirements according to documents the White House has released. U.S. News and World Report:
Bush’s own records show that he fell short of that requirement, attending only 36 drills in the 1972-73 period, and only 12 in the 1973-74 period. The U.S. News analysis also showed that during the final two years of his obligation, Bush did not comply with Air Force regulations that impose a time limit on making up missed drills. What’s more, he apparently never made up five months of drills he missed in 1972, contrary to assertions by the administration.
USA TODAY, Dean Roome, a former fighter pilot who lived with Bush in the early 1970s, said that during the first part of Bush’s pilot service, he was a model officer. But he described Bush’s Air Guard career as erratic - the first three years solid, the last two troubled.
“You wonder if you know who George Bush is,” Roome said. “I think he digressed after a while. In the first half, he was gung-ho. Where George failed was to fulfill his obligation as a pilot. It was an irrational time in his life.”
Pressed for details during the 2002 interview, Roome declined to elaborate. In February this year, replying to an e-mail from USA TODAY, Roome wrote that he admires Bush and does not want to be seen as attacking him. “Only George W. Bush knows why he was unable to continue flying in the Guard,” Roome wrote.
President Bush’ former Harvard Business School prof says his ex-student supported the Vietnam War but wanted somebody else to fight it.
Yoshi Tsurumi said yesterday that Bush told him his father’s connections got him into the Texas Air National Guard. “But what really disturbed me is that he said he was for the Vietnam War,” said Tsurumi, who has also taught at Baruch College and the City University of New York. “I said, ‘George, that’s hypocrisy. You won’t fight a war that you support but you expect other people to fight it for you.’ He just smirked.”
“He was very casual about it,” the professor said. “I said, ‘Lucky you, how did you manage it?’ He said, ‘My dad had a good friend who put me at the head of the waiting list.’”
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:23 pm 22. Katherine:ìthey’ve been getting away with lying for years.î
Of course. Been saying this since the beginning of this great unraveling. Think how many lives were destroyed because of that. It is strangely fitting though, to see how they have come along over the years, hand in hand: liar John, and liar Dan.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:23 pm 23. Godzilla:Final OT. I’m glad that the truth is out about how Kerry killed that VC. The guy was wounded and running away, the lowest kind of killing I can think of in battle. Kerry bragged about it in his book and turned it into an heroic struggle. Disgusting.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:26 pm 24. Charlie (Colorado):Funny, Lemming, I was just watching Roome defending Bush on TV an hour or so ago.
“Lemming” — excellent choice, I think.
Sep 13, 2004 - 11:54 pm 25. Will:“Don’t trust anybody. Verify. Then decide if we’re telling truth. I’m sure you already do, if you read blogs. And, if we’re not telling the truth or interpreting correctly, with the blogs you can get involved and protest. You can start your own blog and tell the truth - for virtually no money. We are all part of the process. If you want positive anarchy, don’t look to the protesters in Davos. Look to the blogosphere.”
Power to the people, man. I guess you haven’t changed that much after all.
Sep 14, 2004 - 12:03 am 26. geezer:It’s amazing just how many Americans will finally be having their “Aw shit!” moments this week, this month, … hell, this year, what with the current CBS-driven drama.
I thought I’d long given up being surprised by proven bias or hatred towards the single color of our American politcal spectrum with which I’ve agreed for so many years, whether it be led by a Ford, Reagan or Bush. Let’s not forget how many on the “right” called Reagan a jerk when he spelled out his plan to bring down the evil empire. Attacks, regardless of direction, are a fact and price of political belief.
Would that we could look upon years spent listening to Cronkite and his pals with something more noble (or neutral) than the feeling I now have of being violated in some way, of having been lied to, manipulated, … when all the while I thought I was just getting the f_ _ _ _ _ g news, for cryin’ out loud…
I always thought it would’ve been Precious Peter J. of ABC to step too far into the abyss. How fitting that it would be Danny “I Stood Up To Nixon, Dammit!” Rather who may finally signal the fall of the Big Three? Would that it happens in my lifetime.
Yes, Dan, in Texas we call it “walking.” Now swagger/walk your sorry, biased arse off the stage and make room for somebody who can just give us the news…
Sep 14, 2004 - 12:41 am 27. zeppenwolf:“anyone else find it ironic that Dan’s latest “expert” (the ex-typewriter repairman) was found by CBS producers thru a comment he made in a blog, where he was defending the 60 Minutes memos.”
Ironic? (snicker, snort) How charmingly ignorant of you, my little unwashed friend…
It just so happens that I *also* am a document expert, I can easily duplicate these memos with my 1972 Spinmaster typewriter, and my consultant/appearance fees are *highly reasonable*!
Sep 14, 2004 - 1:16 am 28. geezer:Spinmaster — the appliances that say: “Get outta my way!”
(Particularly when they spell doom for on-their-last-legs peddlers of hoo-hah, foo-frah- and fol-de-rol.)
Sep 14, 2004 - 2:08 am 29. M. Simon:Roger,
As you know I finally got my own blog (a lot of people seem inspired by Rathergate - wretchard forced me - if I wanted to reply to him I had to get a Blogger Blog).
Thanks for the hat tip and I’ll see what I can do to drive some traffic your way.
Any way.
I’lllllll be back!!!
Oh, Yeah. It is great to see the old media die out. Truth will be worth more and cost less.
Simon
Sep 14, 2004 - 3:06 am 30. Joe:I note that “Lemming” - yes, how very appropriate a monicker - didn’t give us a link to his supposed smackdown of the Drudge documents. Or maybe he wrote it all up himself?
Sep 14, 2004 - 3:14 am 31. lindybill:I just figured out how Les Moonves, the President of CBS, can save CBS news. When he fires Rather, he can hire Bernard Goldberg, his former newsman and author of, “Bias A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News,” as the new anchor.
OK now, everybody take a deep breath. :>)
First off, Rather is going to have to go. It is going to be a mortal blow to CBS. They are already number three in network news. This destroys their credibility. If they bring in one of their “Rather clones,” it won’t help them. They need to do a complete “mea culpa” and turnaround.
The shock of installing Goldberg would make it the biggest media story of the year, and overshadow Rather’s going. The effect on the public would be terrific.
If they did it, I think they would vault to number one in network news.
Sep 14, 2004 - 3:41 am 32. Samuel:Easter Lemming you are a hack and I won’t even say liberal because I consider myself liberal, just not as damn prejudicial as you. Let’s review what you say on your site…
–
The New York Times covers the issues fairly.
Here in Washington D.C. we say the WAPO is liberal and the WATIMES is conservative. Is the NYTIMES fair, or is it liberal? Or are you saying things need to be liberal to be fair? I’ll let you speak for yourself.
–
Interesting but as expected you have hundreds of right-wing pseudo-experts screaming fake and that bobbled up to the conservative media with assured pronouncements that the memos were fake.
Well first are they fake? Many of the most important debunkers aren’t even supporters of Bush. These conservatives brought hard evidence from them midst their “screaming” as you refer to it, I properly call it “crying foul”. Their evidence overwhelmingly says they are fake, how much would you be willing to bet? Your condescending “pseudo-experts” doesn’t diminish their validity, mny were “true experts”. I would bet much. But what is bad is their was no gentlemanly yielding on your part, just condescension and quite frankly displays of behavior you speak out againts.
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The left blogosphere is willing to consider the issues as the documents don’t show anything new and it is in the nature of liberals to examine claims.
And not the conservatives? Only liberals open up and yield to truth? You know you are as one sided as the people rail against. You think you speak truth yet you have said nothing but assassinate the character of a group of people. There is no excuse, it doesn’t matter if you say “they do it” because either you are above it or you aren’t, obviously you aren’t.
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A problem would be if they were proved fake it would easily prevent the U.S. media from looking at the White House released files. This is a master Rove campaign, if you can’t attack the conclusions attack the evidence
Sounds to me your “examining claims” is to be “open minded” about whether the memo’s are fake (as if it weren’t a forgone conclusion), but I see on your site you are still holding hope because “experts” are lining up to counter and put their reputations on the line for Dan Rather, of course in your case it is all dur to being “open minded”). But just in case they are proven fake you’ll be “open-minded” enough to assume it was a classical Karl Rove political move. How profound of you. Are you that jaded?
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I made a tour of right sites tonight/early morning - conservatives only listen to other conservatives to get their talking points?Reminds me of the debate leading up to the war. Liberals and Democrats split on the war - they are willing to listen to the other side and supposed experts. Too late most realized what they were being suckered into.
Oh my fellow open minded liberals, Lemming I still am a liberal and voted for Gore, (every Democrat from Carter to Gore) but this doesn’t pass the laugh test. Roger L Simon has yet to vote Republican and this is a Website of “War Liberals”. You know I’m also Jewish so I guess I am a “Neo-con”, at least that is what my “open-minded” Democratic compadres have pejoratively called me. You flatter yourself my friend. Look I know the rabid trash and scorn heaped upon me for supporting this War. Split on the War? That is spin, how about TORN APART. I’ve been there and know better. When we are at War as a Nation the Democratic Party is always torn apart and has been for more then a generation and not “open-minded” about it as you say. Because of this tear in the fabric of the party as I would call it, John Kerry in a quandary as he can’t take a position because the Party will fully tear apart if he does. There are many Democrats and Liberals like myself here that have been clobbered hard for taking a little bit of an Ed Koch perspective. I know this Pro Gay Marriage, Jewish guy (me) sure has. I don’t want to hear about conservatives I want my former Party to fix itself. This is not going to happen with what you are doing, where is the self-evalution? The solutions will not be found lurking in at a War Liberal blog and then backbiting us to hell upon returning to yours.
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The angry right always goes for blood and latches on any argument and the GOP media campaign is superb. Disorganized Democrats, liberals, progressives, have to debate the issues to decide what the campaign is. They do not have a rapid response echo chamber. I would think Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public getting on with their busy lives seems more likely to listen to the pervasive loud voice of the GOP megaphone.
Arrogance has always been a weakness of fellow liberals. Both sides go for blood, give me a break. Democrats are disorganized because they are split not because they are open minded. How can you deal with it while you sit in denial? Also both damn political parties are close minded and open minded depending on the issues and their own prejudices concerning them. I hope you are aware of your lack of temperance, I really do. Also implying “John Q. Public” as deferring to the “loud voice of the GOP” is a little condescending don’t you think?
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Man lemming, honestly read each of these and tell me they say or do much other than assault the character of conservatives. No mention of specific policy differences to argue just pure personal assault and prejudice. If you have an ability to be fair then reconsider as you spoke nothing to the issues …
their policies for their own benefit but wrap them in flag and country and God and morality talk.
they will offer progressive rhetoric for programs that aren’t progressive but benefit some interest group.
They think that is the way the game is played. Power makes right, expediency trumps truth, special deals is just business, justice is for suckers.
I have generalized to ‘the GOP’ what I might more properly attribute to authoritarians or unlimited capitalists or ‘the man’ or the power structure in most communities.
Professor Wilhelm is that you? Are you sure you aren’t my College Professor that railed against the “right wing” and “close mindedness” and arrogantly praised himself and fellow liberals for their “superior ways”. Of course he made sure political correctness ruled the day and would also grade down anyone that didn’t stick to the political correct line in their work.
You are the mirrored counterpart to the right wing hack you rail against. You think you sit as a positive counterweight but in truth you are deceived if you believe that. You are no better, you are his partner in crime. You sit thei agitating and polarizing, seeking to divide all the same, you focus on policy when you speak amongt youselves and spew prejudice at those you disagree with, not focusing on the merits of the arguments but assassinating the characters of those you seek to put down. These are all the things you rail against but also all the things you do. You are no better and by the way…
I want my PARTY BACK!
Sep 14, 2004 - 3:49 am 33. Terrye:Lemming:
What a joke.
The Democrats are running a billionaire for president and railing against wealth. The Democrats are demogogues bitching about the lack of progressives in the Repbulican party when they themselves have not had an origianl thought since the Great Society. The Democrats say there are two kinds of people: the Bushitlers and them. So much for open minded.
Every time I think I might not leave the Democratic party some guy like you comes along and reminds me that it is time to man the lifeboats, that ship is sinking.
In the very least Rather did not do his homework. Why? Because he wanted to float a story that people such as yourself would slobber all over. You guys deserve each other.
BTW I really don’t give a damn if Bush missed a physical 31 years ago. If it does not matter that Kerry met with the enemy in Paris why should it matter if Bush got out of the service a few months early? You guys started this silliiness years ago and it has turned on you. Could not happen to nicer bunch of anal retentives.
Sep 14, 2004 - 4:31 am 34. Jonathan:not to be to premature but could not resist…
Internet Killed the Media Czar
I heard you on the TV back in ‘72
We lacked computers then, we used paper and glue.
Our font selections sucked but what else could we do?
Click-a clack
You took the credit for a major forgery.
Rewritten by machine and new technology,
You call me nuts but that’s a superscript I see.
Click-a clack (ding!)
I met your experts.
Click-a clack (ding!)
Where did you buy them?
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
Bloggers came and broke your heart.
Click-a clack
And now we meet in your abandoned studio.
We hear the typing and it seems so long ago.
And you remember the Selectric used to go:
Click-a clack (ding!)
You had to earn it.
Click-a clack (ding!)
You couldn’t kern it.
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
PJ army nailed your star, you can’t word-wrap you’ve gone too far.
Click-a clack
Click-a clack
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
PJ army nailed your star, your smart quotes went a bit too far.
Memos mocked on my TV set, put the blame on DARPA-NET…
You were… a Media Czar…
You were… a Media Czar…
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
Internet Killed the Media Czar.
—
Biggest Credits to Evan who took my small slim draft and really really made it work.
Sep 14, 2004 - 5:01 am 35. Samuel:Terrye
It’s amazing the principles a Party can claim when it suits their fancy. I fault both parties for this. But one party has been more egregious by a mile and we know which one.
Lemming is a snotty jerk. Sure he is going to say, na-na-na you called me names to which I would say Lemming, look at the size post and the time I gave you pal, you trolls usually hit and run and avoid substance.
As far as switching parties Zell gives a good argument of why their are some advantages not to. At some point I become just another Republican and can no longer talk about Democrats as “my party”. People like Zell can forever give them hell and be a thorn in their side if he wants to, on the other hand Richard Perle is still a Democrat! Do I ever want to be that misplaced? No way!
Do people think of Reagan as an ex-Democrat? No, they think of him as the perfect Republican. In a certain sense I see it coming to being just a Republican for me, how many election cycles will it take? Who knows! I don’t know about Indiana, but in Virginia the last Democratic Presidential Candidate to carry the state was LBJ in 1964, that’s 40 years baby! Yet Republicans didn’t gain control of the legislature until a few years ago and Democrats controlled the state until then, we were the typical, no elected Republicans since reconstruction… blah blah blah. We were ahead of the rest of the South because we are a border State with plenty of suburbs and lots of Military. There are still more registered Democrats by a long shot (maybe 10% advantage) yet 2/3’s of the legislature is Republican. Maybe you have just become one of “those” Democrats. (can you say DINO). By the way your state has by far the best example of what a Republican and/or Democrat should be like. Bayh and Lugar are very deserving respectable people, no worry about fast ones being pulled by these two.
In the end, who cares as a vote is a vote. Zell may get a kick out of saying, screw you Democrats a thumb in the eye for you and a vote for Bush! I may get a kick out of saying, yea I’m Jewish and my brother is gay, go Republicans! And you may be content being one of those that screw up poling data because you vote the wrong damn way. A Single White Democratic Female voting Republican, now let’s see Zogby deal with that!
One thing I will say, the lemmings of the world can kiss my ass until I die, I will never again be so conforming as to lose perspective and independence. I am sure if I served in politics Republican or Democrat, I would be a maverick, I’m sure you would to. CHEERS!
Sep 14, 2004 - 5:28 am 36. hcq:‘We need our press to be a watchdog over government activities, but when we can’t trust a world they print or say, what’s the point of their existence’–
Remember the old Soviet joke: There’s no truth in Pravda, and no news in Izvestia; but when you read them together, carefully, you can actually learn a lot?
Ditto here. Consider recent history. One day an editorial pops up in (I think it was) the NYT condemning SBVT. The thinking reader asks, “Wait a minute? Who are these guys, and why haven’t I heard anything about them before now, and why are they eeeeevil according to the NYT?” and decides to find out for himself.
Slightly OT - I’m in Pensacola, FL; Ivan is due in around midnight Wednesday night. I’m concerned for our collective safety, but I confess I am at least as frantic about not having electricity for weeks. I know Rather’s end will come while we’re sitting here in the dark, and I am SO annoyed I’ll miss it!
Sep 14, 2004 - 5:28 am 37. David Thomson:ìNow up until this moment, I’d always consigned those wild rumors about Foster being murdered to the right wing tin foil hat brigade, but when I saw this my first thought was to wonder, “oh, man, could they have actually been right?”î
Vince Foster committed suicide. Iím convinced of that—and so are the vast majority of so called right wingers. Not even one mainstream conservative publication took these ridiculous rumors seriously. Only the lunatic fringe believed that the Clintons murdered Foster.
Sep 14, 2004 - 5:41 am 38. leaddog2:For all Easter Lemmings or whoever else HAS NO MILITARY KNOWLEDGE of any kind.
1) All Air National Guard Units Nation-wide are over-seen by the U.S. Air Force. What in the hell do you think an Air Force does besides fly, etc.? What in the hell do you think Active Duty training for flying means?
This is provided ONLY by the Air Force for ALL Air National Guard units. (Navy and Marine Fliers have different training requirements….. carriers in some cases… a different thing entirely).
ALL Documents that have records for Bush and ALL OTHER Air Guard Pilots show a U.S. Air Force officer signature down threw the Chain of Command to the Texas Air Guard Commander. If you want links to the documents, I will post them.
Sep 14, 2004 - 5:54 am 39. Samuel:hcq
Pensacola, FL? Somewhere down around there isn’t it “Scarborough Country”?
–
My parents hijacked it out of South Florida to avoid the storm. Ivan could have at least had the decency to come close! But here they came, two Jewish Snowbird Democrats staying with their renegade “Neo-Con” son.
I’ve been hearing the “Odd Couple” theme going on in the background the whole damn time. The only difference is that it is more like “Seinfeld”, except Jerry’s a “Neo-con”. The Parents don’t understand, especially the mother, she wonders where she went wrong. The father of course just wants peace and quiet.
In this episode the Democratic Candidate’s campaign implodes, the parents start to freak out, the tension get high… but that’s ok because I get to deliver all the good punch lines!
–
Good luck with the storm I hope you stay safe.
Sep 14, 2004 - 6:02 am 40. DennisThePeasant:Samuel-
You know I love you, but one word here…
decaf
Sep 14, 2004 - 6:05 am 41. DennisThePeasant:Samuel-
Be sure to have a copy of Unfit For Command laying around on an end table in the living room.
Sep 14, 2004 - 6:11 am 42. shel:“Internet killed the Media Czar”—
priceless!
thanks!
Sep 14, 2004 - 6:38 am 43. Plainslow:The Blogosphere, now needs to find out who made the forgeries. If CBS did’nt, and just believed them, they were worse than they can ever say Bush was about WMD. At least he had the rest of the world, agreeing with him.
Sep 14, 2004 - 7:28 am 44. Sandy P:This fits Rummy’s statement to a “T”:
Known - knowns - that the dems would try something and the MSM would aid and abet;
Known - unknowns - didn’t know what or when (except the biggie’s saved for the end of October);
Unknown - unknowns - how incompetent/clueless they’d really be.
Especially when one reads this:
When the CBS News anchor Dan Rather defended himself on camera and in interviews last Friday against questions being raised about documents he had used to bolster a report on President Bush’s National Guard service, he and network executives considered the case closed.
—
Did the execs rely on Blather or did they get confirmation from other sources?
Sep 14, 2004 - 7:54 am 45. Sandy P:A commenter on DailyPundit:
The fat lady has sung.
1) The software folks who developed TrueType at Apple say that the unique TrueType algorithms for interletter spacing, pseudo-kerning, etc. was invented and patented in 1989 and licensed to Microsoft a couple of years later. It is not possible to match line lengths as has been demonstrated by any non-TrueType system. Not even Microsoft Word could do so before 1992. Therefore, it is impossible for the CBS memos to be older than 1989.
2) Recent versions of Microsoft Word employ “Optical Centering” rather than “Geometrical Centering” because it gives a more centered look. This is an algorithm that takes into account the “weight” of the letters on the entire line to compute a line center which is then placed at the page center. This is not the geometrical center as would be produced by any device of the 1970’s. The excellent alignment of the three header lines means it’s impossible that the CBS memos were produced in the 1970’s.
GAME OVER!
Moreover, CBS by now surely knows the jig is up. Therefore, Dan & Company now display their foremost talent as straight-faced liars.
Sep 14, 2004 - 8:11 am 46. Knucklehead:Now this is downright laughable. Its the CBS News site - scroll down to Consumer Alert and have a look at what they want people’s input about. Needless to say you might want to drop them a quick email.
Sep 14, 2004 - 8:29 am 47. Sandy P:OT, via No Pasaran, my babelfish link:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
“Depuis of many weeks, the United States attends the one of the most violent campaigns and least rich their history. Force, because these are two irreconcilable logics ≠ messianism on a side, multilateralism of the other ≠ which clash. Poor, because manichÈenne in its remarks, oublieuse in its stakes. Since the beginning of the rough battle, the majority of the daily concerns of the American citizens were put at the variation debates. Exit the growing problem of unemployment. Exit also that of the deficit external, however abyssal. Out, finally, the reflexion around the death penalty, which had in its mobilized time of many Americans and returned sadly the ex-governor of Texas celebrates.”
Someone at Harvard wrote this for Liberation.
Sep 14, 2004 - 8:35 am 48. Samuel:DTP
You suggest Decaf? I can knock down a whole six pack of Dr. Peppers and sleep like a baby. Since more then half of my children have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), I have no doubt who they got it from.
While I remained undiagnosed as a child I exhibited all the symtoms, creative, scored high on aptitude tests, but was bored and could care less about school, yet I loved to learn and be challenged.
Of course now I run my own successful business and built my very own damn mold to fit in, so there! I think ADD, while always there, can have certain peaks and valleys of exaggerated mania, it goes in cycles. I have obviously just experienced one, also the urge to speak in Yiddish often kicks in, but I promised to refrain, I will soon crash and burn.
Sep 14, 2004 - 8:38 am 49. Katherine:I find it interesting that somehow all of sudden so many people pop up with total recall on conversations from 30 years ago with then unremarkable dunce George W. Bush. I have been thinking back and trying to remember events and conversations that were important to me 20 years ago, and I have to confess that I, like Mr. Bush, must suffer from pre-senile dementia (as diagnosed at a distance by J Price, MD, see letters to editor in latest issue of The Atlantic Monthly). I guess that Mr. Bush is such charismatic figure that even casual encounter with him ends up being seared, seared in memory of people around him. Pity then that the same people usually fail to remember what the man says in policy speeches, all available on line for a refresher ñ remember the ì16 wordsî controversy?
Although the issue is important to veterans, I personally
donít care that much about the conduct of Mr. Kerry in Vietnam ñ unless he committed any of the atrocities that he was bragging about. I also donít care whether Mr. Bush showed up for duty only when threatened with court marshal and had to keep a manual in his flight cabin to remind him where the ìignitionî button is and what is proper landing procedure.
What I am concerned happed afterwards: Kerryís anti-military testimony and his voting record in Senate. As far as I can make up, while George Bush went to undermine his own life ñwith parties, booze and perhaps worse, John Kerry went on to undermine the safety of not only his own country, but entire planet: Commie boys were ready to take as much as they could possibly grab and they were quite open with their goals of conquest, while at the same time railing against American ìimperialismî. And John Kerry was happy to help them by weakening our military and our foreign policies.
Years passed, GW reformed, and most recently served as a remarkably effective CiC in taking the war against terrorist Islamist, which was officially declared on us by Osama on Clintonís watch, into the territory of the enemy.
(This kind of transformation is not unprecedented, with the example of Prince Hal as best known literary account.)
Years passed, Kerry stayed the same, and now is promising to keep weakening the military, defer our foreign policy to our enemies in UN, and bring the war on terror home (ìI will respond swiftly and decisively to any attack on American soilî ñ gee, thanks, buddy, that will be so reassuring after we lose a city to a suitcase nuke).
There was no effort for self-education, no road-to- Damascus enlightenment on his part, even when the KGB archives were opened and the horrifying accounts of Communalist actions across the globe were revealed.
I am perhaps old fashioned, but I like to live as safely as possible (except when I take my own, personal, calculated risks), make money and be happy. Large part of it, alas, will depend on policies of the White House. For me then, like for Zell Miller, the choice between these two man is crystal clear.
PS. One more comment on the articles pasted by Mr. Lemming. We are witnessing total meltdown of credibility of MSM, with in the CBS lead. Why should I believe a single word in any of the MSM reports without independent verification? Might as well start subscribing to the National Enquirer; one never knows, their weather reports could be accurate.
Sep 14, 2004 - 8:58 am 50. jerry:(maybe a repeat post)
Katherine:
You said: “Why should I believe a single word in any of the MSM reports without independent verification? Might as well start subscribing to the National Enquirer; one never knows, their weather reports could be accurate.”
Actually, The Enquirer got both the Jennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky stories right so the Enquirer is already two up on the MSM.
Sep 14, 2004 - 9:31 am 51. Katherine:Thanks, jerry, I didn’t know that. Well, there we are.
Sep 14, 2004 - 10:10 am 52. M. Simon:The Truth Will Be Worth More and Cost Less
Speaking of which: more Kerry Boat Stuff
Sep 14, 2004 - 10:13 am 53. M. Simon:Actually here is the more Kerry Boat stuff:
More Stuff
Sep 14, 2004 - 10:27 am 54. insatty:In November 1984, Reagan’s opposition to Communism and his support of Israel and capitalism convinced me to vote Republican for the first time. I have never looked back. For years thereafter, I considered myself to be the conscience of the Democrat Party; then I just switched parties.
Samuel now is the Liberals’ conscience. I’m happy that the torch has been passed to him. We formerly liberal jews need to defeat the islamofascist menace, but to accomplish this noble task there needs to be more Roger L. Simons and Samuels.
Sep 14, 2004 - 10:51 am 55. Catherine:penwil
OT: I meant to say on the other thread that I’ll be interested to hear if you start to have easier conversations with the folks around you.
btw, my own rule of thumb for dealing with people who think I’m obsessed is to assume they’re right, I’m obsessed.
I don’t remotely say that as a criticism; I say it because it works for me.
The fact is, I am obsessed, and always have been. One of my editors told me she’d never in her life met a writer who wasn’t; without obsession, she said, no one would ever write a book. An article, maybe, but not a book.
She’s probably right.
So I take any such comment as “Useful Feedback” (not that I enjoy receiving Useful Feedback) and I dial things WAY down, or at least I TELL MYSELF to dial things way down.
Great line from EDIE (quoting from memory):
I have a roped-off pew in the church of my heart for the obsessed.
Back OT: I read quite a lot of the Foster stuff (did I mention I was obsessed?)
As far as I can tell, the “non-crazed” interpretation of Foster’s death is that he wasn’t murdered, but he didn’t die in the park where his body was found.
If Foster’s body had been found in his office or in the White House parking lot his office and all its files would have been immediately sealed off, something no one on this planet would be happy to have happen, but especially not high-level elected officials.
The thinking is that people in the White House moved his body to the park, thus buying themselves time to remove various documents from his files. (Wasn’t this Linda Tripp’s big moment? Didn’t she report some of Hillary’s people for removing documents from Foster’s files? Can’t remember.)
Anyway, that makes sense to me, and it’s not even grotesquely nefarious. You don’t have to see Hillary as a Big-time White Collar Criminal to know she’s not going to want the Washington police combing through every file her closest friend and legal counsel has in his office.
Rick B
Obviously that’s not a problem for me.
Sep 14, 2004 - 11:15 am 56. thedragonflies:If CBS goes, can the MSM and the Dem Party be far behind? One can dream, canít one?
Sep 14, 2004 - 11:15 am 57. Catherine:Samuel & everyone
Years ago, my coauthor on SHADOW SYNDROMES, John Ratey (a psychiatrist at Harvard) said Americans have higher levels of ADHD than does the rest of the world because of our immigrant history.
I always believed that absolutely, and then recently a scientist demonstrated that people who have immigrated the furthest also have more likelihood of having a particular ADHD-linked gene.
I love it!
I think that explains a lot about our country. I also think most of our presidents have had ADHD. (Have you noticed how many lefties we’ve had as president, as well? ADHD is associated with left-handedness.)
I’ll see if I can find a link.
Sep 14, 2004 - 11:29 am 58. Catherine:David Thomson
OK, why don’t I amend my statement to “the non-crazed faction of the lunatic fringe.”
Sep 14, 2004 - 11:31 am 59. Catherine:everyone
I find this discovery moving, when you think about the American character and experience:
SCIENCE NEWS Week of Jan.ÔøΩ19,ÔøΩ2002; Vol. 161, No. 3 , p. 40
Sep 14, 2004 - 11:39 am 60. Katherine:It looks like I am not the only one thinking about the candidates in terms of Shakespearian characters.
The race seems to be between Henry V (formerly Prince Hal) and Prince Omlet http://www.americandigest.org/mt-archives/002164.php
And this http://www.celluloid-wisdom.com/pw/index.php?/weblog/entry/the_tragedy_of_omlet_prince_of_massachusetts_cont/
Sep 14, 2004 - 11:39 am 61. jerry:The reason that we pay more attention to ADHD today is the failing public school system. When I was a young lad teachers had a way of focusing your attention without passing out behavior altering drugs. They ran disciplined classes organized with the knowledge that you had to keep the young boys focused on what they were doing. Three things happened to alter the balance and free the ADHD afflicted student from the need to concentrate on their own. First, our friends at the ACLU discovered all manner of student rights and teacher obligations. This made classroom discipline next to impossible. Second, Feminism decreed that it is sexist to call on boys at higher rates then girls. The old teachers understood that kids who could be called on at any moment to answer a question tended to stay focused. They also knew that girls were more likely then boys to pay attention without threats. Finally, we had teachers who knew their subjects and could teach well.
We now have created a lowest common denominator system where undruged and undisciplined children make it harder for everyone else to learn. Boys are neglected even though common sense tells us that young boys must be actively engaged to learn. We hire teachers based on their knowledge of “education” instead of subject matter.
I also have another theory. We all know that most children diagnosed with ADHD are boys. Could it be that the feminization of grade school culture misidentifies the typical behavior of young boys as abnormal, i.e., they don’t act like nice little girls? My son went to a parish Catholic grade school. Despite the fact that the children came from socio-economic cross section of the parish there were very few “learning disabled” students. Is it because Catholics don’t get ADHD or is it because the school did not follow
Sep 14, 2004 - 12:17 pm 62. jerry:I made a selectric composer error…
to finish my statement …
the educationalist/ACLU approach to schooling?
Sep 14, 2004 - 12:38 pm 63. Katherine:What can I sayÖ I despise girly-men.
Sep 14, 2004 - 1:33 pm 64. Samuel:insatty
Samuel now is the Liberals’ conscience..
Well I don’t know how long that will last as my disgust with the left solidifies. Quite frankly I don’t know what is liberal or conservative anymore, but my right and wrong alarm bell seems to be working. I smell hordes of rats coming from the left. Leftists hijacked liberalism and left the carcass to be picked over by whoever could salvage the best of what was left of her policies.
It seems to me the evil neo-cons and many ex-Democrats infused into the Republicans extra life that embodies the best of both. Activist Foreign Policy with a blend of neo-liberal fiscal conservatism at home that carries with it an acceptance that the temperance of a moralist is not a bad thing and in fact relevant in measuring policy. A further bonus is they sacred off the Pat Buchanan types as well.
Insatty this change is just not that difficult. In the end easier then I thought it would be. The differences are so stark that it makes it easy. Thank you very much for the vote of confidence.
Sep 14, 2004 - 1:52 pm 65. Catherine:Jerry
There’s data going back quite a few years showing a poor fit between boys & elementary school.
I once wrote an article on this subject & the women’s magazines I was involved with hated it & refused to publish it. One editor told me she wouldn’t even show it to her fellow editors because if she did they would never work with me on another story.
As to girls, the last time I was involved in this topic the thinking was that in girls ADHD tends to manifest later, at adolescence.
That’s why you’ll see girls suddenly go “sprong” when they hit puberty (I’m sure you know the phenomenon).
I don’t know whether people are still thinking along these lines, but last I checked that was the idea.
There is also a line of thought–and I don’t know how many people give this credence–that video & computer games & endless TV are fracturing kids’ natural attention spans.
That wouldn’t surprise me.
Sep 14, 2004 - 2:26 pm 66. Charlie (Colorado):I’ve completely lost track of threads at this point (I’ve been involved in my real job) but I saw election predictions go by, so I want to put my bid in again for 57 +/- 2 percent popular vote and 300+ electoral votes.
Especially because of this.
Sep 14, 2004 - 4:42 pm